The European Administrative Space and States' Sovereignty

Much research has been devoted to the emergence and development of a European administrative space (EAS). This paper seeks to address the issue of whether this space limits the EU member and candidate states' sovereignty. Therefore, it is structured as follows: first, it will try to define the European administrative space, considering the various opinions expressed in the literature in the field; second, it will focus on the means by which this space affects national public administrations; third, it will analyze the traditional concept of state sovereignty and its evolution in the context of the changing world; fourth, it will address the proposed research question; and, finally, concluding remarks will be provided. The paper claims that the existence of the EAS does not limit states' sovereignty, be they EU members or candidates. The argument is threefold: first, it is based on the essence of what states' sovereignty means - their ‘power' to freely express their own will on domestic and external affairs; second, it is based on the difference between the EU and decentralized polities, in terms of delegation of powers; third, it stresses that limiting sovereignty through sovereignty might not be possible.